The present invention relates to an automatic balancing machine which incorporates computer numerical control correction methods. The balancing machine of the present invention is completely automatic.
Balancing machines of past design have incorporated the use of milling or drilling operations for material removal. If the workpiece being balanced was geometrically conductive, the amount of material removed required was known before the material removal process started. However, with geometrically complex shapes, the balancing operation required that the workpiece be placed on the balancer and the amount of correction needed be determined and the angle of correction was marked. If the workpiece geometry required grinding as the material removal method, the operator would manually grind the workpiece. The workpiece would again be measured and the routine repeated until tolerance was reached. Applicant's invention provides an computer control and data analysis system which overcomes the disadvantages of incorporating grinding material removal and enhances the ability to use grinding material removal methods as well as the more common milling and drilling methods in balancing complex geometric workpieces.
Applicant's invention envisions the use of a grinding mechanism for material removal over the more common methods of drilling and milling. However, it is to be understood that milling and drilling operations can be incorporated with or distinct from the grinding operation depending upon the individual needs of the machine design. Applicant's preference for grinding as a method of material removal lies in the reasons that grinding provides a desirable amount of surface finish control with an uninterrupted or smooth transition surface which is less likely to create noise or gather debris. Grinding also provides a method of material removal which spreads the correction over a wider area so that material can be removed at a faster rate. The wide variety of grinding mechanisms available also serves to enhance the balancing of complex and fragile surfaces.
The present invention also improves upon current state-of-the-art through the use of a computer numerical controller to calculate material removal and workpiece/tool positioning. While the computer numerical control system makes grinding feasible in a balancing operation, it also enhances the quality of drilling and milling processes. To this point in time, currently available driling and milling processes depend solely upon geometric correction methods. That is, if the diameter of the tool and the length of the cut are known, the material removed can be calculated. However, with complex geometric shapes, the geometric calculations are complex and difficult. The computer numerical control system of the present invention seeks to solve these shortcomings through internal calculations concerning percent correction, averaging, and information feedback as well as stored information relating to workpiece profile and workpiece history.